Fall Workshops 2018

Lecoq 101

Teacher: Richard Crawford

This workshop provides an opportunity for physically curious actors to explore the core principles of Jacques Lecoq's pedagogy for the first time. It is an over-arching introduction in a playful, intensive setting and will cover such areas as Neutral Mask, Le Jeu, Gestural Languages, Lecoq's 20 Movements, Identification work and ensemble created theater.

The workshop is led by MTS founder and Co-Director, Richard Crawford who studied under Lecoq in Paris and who has been teaching this approach for 15 years in New York and around the world. Richard strives to create an atmosphere of meaningful abandon and physical precision. He is gifted in teaching to each student's particular needs and will help the training actor identify the areas of future physical theater training he thinks they will benefit from.

This workshop is intended to be a jumping off point for those actors who have identified themselves as physically based performers and who want to know how to nurture this impulse. To this end, MTS will provide 20% off EACH of the next two workshops the participants may decide to take.

Hours: Oct. 19, 6:30pm - 10pm; Oct. 20 & 21, 10am - 3pm

Location: Pearl Studios, 500 8th Ave, NYC

Fee: $250 (A deposit of $100 is required to secure space and is refundable until 10/5. Remainder of fee is due 10/12.)

Born in the underground cabaret spaces of World War II Paris, Platform Theater is a unique ensemble performance style that draws upon the idea that with spatial constraints come endless possibilities for the telling of stories.

Using nothing but their bodies and voices a group of six actors inhabits a stage no bigger than 4'x8' and through the use of various gestural storytelling techniques they can change place, time and character with a speed that allows for one of the most dynamic forms of physical storytelling—the simplest of tools to tell the richest of stories.

Techniques employed on the stage include: architectural mime, vocal soundscapes, figurative mime and character drawing. Platform theater also borrows heavily from the form of film: the jump cut, slow motion, forced perspective, the close up, etc. The possibilities are limited only to the ensemble's imagination and when done well can be a truly magical experience for the audience; one that can only exist at the theater.

This workshop is ideal for actors wanting to develop their devising skills, hone their physical precision, push their imagination to the limits and learn a completely new form of storytelling.

Hours: Nov. 9, 6:30pm - 10pm; Nov. 10 & 11, 10am - 3pm

Location: Pearl Studios, 500 8th Ave, NYC

Fee: $250 (A deposit of $100 is required to secure space and is refundable until 10/26. Remainder of fee is due 11/2.)

A unique three-day course in contemporary puppet manipulation with renowned War Horse puppeteer and designer Tom Lee. Using principles of traditional Japanese puppet theater as a starting point, this workshop is for puppeteers and movement based actors to study the art of bringing a figure to life through focus, breath and fixed points of intention.

In addition to Bunraku-style puppetry, participants will have an opportunity to construct a puppet head and experience how the act of sculpting a character informs its movement. Ideal for directors and performers interested in devised work and a collaborative approach to theater making this workshop is primarily for new puppeteers to gain a hands-on launch into the genre—and come away with the start of a puppet!

As part of the workshop, students will:

Study the concepts fixed point, effort, weight and intention

Explore the basic techniques of 3-person manipulation inspired by the division of labor in traditional Japanese puppet theater: head operator, left hand operator and leg operator

Create a full, raw style puppet from paper and, through various études, explore its character

Build a puppet head from basic materials and have the opportunity to manipulate that head using a puppet body provided for the workshop